"Groff. You want axes or woodworking tools? I've got some ore now. There was some talk of outfitting boats? I might be able to help forge some stuff to be able to fit them with masts and some other things to make it easier."

I want to pick from among the workers I've been allotted, the one who shows the most aptitude for smithing, and begin showing him the basics of how to go about working metal, and having him assist me in my tasks (not sure you'll rule he needs his own set of tools right now or not, but many tasks are made easier by having two folks work on it, one holding, one striking, etc.)

The others I want to divide among the following tasks, relatively evenly, but shifting the extra worker each month to whichever is the limiting step in the process. If something is falling far behind, shift one additional worker from each other task to that for the month.
Collecting ore
Making charcoal
Refining ore (are they able to do this unsupervised yet? It's pretty much just feeding the smelter with charcoal and ore, then collecting the iron that comes out)
Constructing small shelter to allow for winter forging

((If the workers are able to refine it on their own, I'd focus my own efforts to the forging farming tools, but if I run out of ore, I'd jump to refining, provided ore is available and we aren't waiting on digging up more or making charcoal.))

Last edited by spiderwrangler on Tue Sep 05, 2017 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Building ships to sail further might be worthwhile, but it'd take too long right now. I'll have men search the nearby shores at low tide, but ships will have to wait... For now."

"You're welcome to start on it if you truly wish, but my first focus is going to be on keeping the fishing going at a steady but slow pace, while we prepare to shift to proper wheat production... THEN I'll put focus on constructing proper seafaring ships. Besides, we got no reliable source of cloth just yet- We'd run out quite quickly..."

OOC: If you guys think boats are better, you can still try to convince him I suppose.

((The country of origin bonus seems to mostly affect me ... but does mean I would be able to make +1 farming tools... I'm assuming there would be agreement that increasing those would be of most benefit? It being summer now, will we still be able to plant now and harvest in the fall? If not, it may be too late for this year...))

John shakes his head, "You have canvas and line...all we need would be wood to convert a row boat into a sailboat. However, we should first spend time focusing on food. John looks over to the woman who mentioned trees. We need a couple of good long stout trees to turn into masts and yards..."

John will go hunting and exploring to see what he can find in other food sources nearby.
He will also assist in teaching the five fisherman how to look for shell fish and to fish properly.

Freya will gladly accept any plants from the wilds, and will encourage any tool making that will make the farming more efficient. However, she'll mostly keep to herself this season, and spend it continuing to teach the commoners how to farm and tend the livestock.

Groff does his best to ease the commoners concerns of lack of food and offers them their rations as if there was no potential problem in the future. He seems disgruntled at having to say anything, and he promises to keep his eye on the ones who stole food.

John Bates, who washed up on their shore, is quickly accepted into the community without a shadow of doubt or distrust.

All Season: GroffÃ”Ã‡Ã–s Orders for the season:
-5 people will fish
In an effort to both fish and allow the bay to reestablish itself, 5 less skilled fishermen grab rods and spend the season fishing. They catch 10 units of fish over the course of the season. Whether itÃ”Ã‡Ã–s the depleted stock (it is) or the less skill, they donÃ”Ã‡Ã–t catch that many this season.

-8 people will collect clams/similar foods from the nearby shore.
After a suggestion by a man who was washed up on the shore, 8 colonists are directed to muck for clams and other creatures living in the bottom of the bay. With John bates having left on his own trip of exploration, the fisherman, unused to the task were only able to collect 18 units worth of sea-food from the bottom of the bay, near the edge, by the shoreline. One of the partially skilled fishermen came to a better understanding of fishing.

-5 people will hunt
John Bates is disappointed that he, a complete stranger in the midst of these Vikings, is unable to convince them that sailing is the better option. He remains flabbergasted at their complete dismissal of their ancestorÃ”Ã‡Ã–s way of life. He goes on a hunting/exploring trip and takes charge in leading the 5 men the governor sent hunting. The hunters roam far to the southwest towards the mountains looking for wild game. Over the course of the season, they run into 3 distinct animal groups. The first is a herd of deer, using the guns they brought with them, the men were able to kill 10 deer while john showed off his hunting skills by killing only 1. The deer were brought back to the village to be cleaned and butchered creating 10 units of food, but only 6 of the deer hides were able to be saved. The second group of animals was a water based mammal. They lived in streams and rivers in large wooden structures that it looked like they had built for themselves. They didnÃ”Ã‡Ã–t seem to know to hide when the hunters appeared and they were able to take down 43 of the creatures. They didnÃ”Ã‡Ã–t have as much meat on their bones but their hides were extremely soft. Their bodies were also hauled back to the village to be skinned and butchered, creating 5 units of food and 20 beaver hides. While hunting further to the west and south than they had hunted previously, this being an overnight trip, the hunters emerged from a forest to find a herd of enormous oxen-like creatures. On quick count, the hunters got to 100 before stopping counting. The herd seemed oblivious to them, so the men took various positions across the front of the forest and opened fired. By the time the smoke cleared, 9 of the huge beasts lay dead on the ground. Having little in the way of carrying meat, other than on their own shoulders, given how far they were from camp, the men skinned and butchered the animals on the spot while the fastest of them ran for town. By the time some of the useless fisherman had come back to help carry the meat, some of it had spoiled already, but in total they were able to save 100 units of food and 4 of the hides. As the men left the field of slaughter, leaving behind the rotting meat, John felt a shiver on the back of his neck as if someone or something was watching him. He turned and scanned the forest across the meadow, but saw nothing.

-5 people will cut wood
38 timber was cut.

-5 people will process wood
32 lumber was created from 9 timber.

Ymer searches for local plants that could be replanted to form an orchard of sorts. He quickly finds however that this area is completely devoid of any fruit trees like he knew back home. But he does find that he could transplant the red and black berry bushes that he found into a new cleared area. He works on this and by the end of the season has transplanted enough plants to make 1d3 units of food each year.

Thormod and the men that were lent to him focus on refining ore and making iron farming tools. He takes one of the men out of the 10 and tries to teach him the way of smithing.
Over the course of the season, 57 iron was refined in the Bloomery furnaces using 16 Charcoal.
21 iron was used to create 13 (+1) Farming Tools. This process used 21 Charcoal.Summer 1:

The animals that have been so well taken care of have all grown to a healthy weight and size, should there be a desire to harvest them in the fall for their meat.
-12 people will first work on finishing/repairing the sawmill, then move on to constructing a mill.
The men get some more work done on the sawmill, both in repairs and continued construction.
(44 of 50)

Bjorn decides the general location and layout of the mill as well as laying the beginning frame for it. (11 of 17)

Freya directs some of her 15 of her men to work on the paddock and they finish it up with ease and move to help the other 25 men who are harvesting.
Over the course of the season they are able to harvest all 10 acres of Oats and plant another 7 acres of ______ (Please tell me what you want planted)
There were several colonists who gained skills in farming.
Summer 2:

By the governorÃ”Ã‡Ã–s orders, the 12 men continue working on Sawmill, finishing it partway through the season and then help finish the simple mill straightaway.
With the mill finished, Bjorn begins work on a simple oven, however he quickly realizes that not only does the settlement have no stone, but they also have no brick molds in which to make bricks. It takes him the next two months to finish.
He mines a goodly amount of clay and forms a crude oven which is then fired by the fire that is lit within it. Above the fire is a flattish stone that he found and set within the crude clay before doming the clay, leaving a hole in front.
Summer 3:

Notes:
Please be patient with me as I continue to tweak the numbers. What I determined is that, given your skills, you should be much more powerful in terms of getting things done than mere colonists, because of this; IÃ”Ã‡Ã–ve made your abilities to get things done much better.

Over the course of the last few seasons, several of the commoners have gained skills, check out the spreadsheet and watch them grow.

At the start of the season, Bjorn walks over to Freya and says. "I'm very happy with the success you have had with the crops and with teaching the commoners your profession, and I thank you so much for your effort, but I would like to remind you that not only the humans will need nourishing in the winter, but the animals as well, so I wanted to remind you that we need to gather grass and such, so we have something to feed them. I know you have taken great care of them so far, but you have so many things to think of, that I figured it wouldn't hurt to help you keep track of things."

He also walks up to John and says: "If you want me to help you turn those row-boats into sail boats, you better give me specific information on what you need. I can most likely craft it, but I don't have experience with crafting and even less with outfitting/revamping boats."

actions:
Bjorn works on making
-) various tools. I would like him to make 1 set of baking tools, 1 set of tools for making wool into yarn and/or into cloth (spinning spools, spinning wheel, small weaving frame), and as many means to transport meat and other stuff from remote places (e.g. stretchers, "Buckelkraxe" - kind of like a back pack, but made from wood, see also the link - carrying poles (the kind you see wild tribes tie their prisoners to and carry them off in cartoons), crates and such like) (1 month)
-) various structures, namely - a smoking rack (to make meat keep edible for longer), a frameworks to tan hides on; one big immobile loom (continue down the list until running out of "work units") (1 month) *
-) the parts needed to outfit the row boats into sail boats, as long as he gets instructions from John (1 month) -> if NO instructions are given, but some are needed (dunno how you defined carpenter, badge, if ship crafting was also covered), then make some household items (e.g. wooden bows, wooden cutlery, ladles, ...) and/or furniture (time for a little comfort) instead. (If no instructions are needed, then still make the parts to revamp the boats rather than the other items.)

► Show Spoiler

*Is that feasible? I don't want to spend the WHOLE month making baking tools, as we only have 1 oven so far, but make a list of various things and have Bjorn work on each of them in turn, when he's finished with one, move onto the next task, and so forth.

Edit: put all the "tool category items" into one month, and the "structure" ones into another. Dropped the plough for now completely.

For this season, Groff issues orders, mostly continuing the trend... (He's not aware of any threats yet, otherwise he'd put up a watch... And "feeling of being watched" probably wouldn't do much to sway him. )

-25 people will harvest crops this season: Each month when done, move to help with construction.
-5 people will fish
-8 people will collect clams/similar foods from the nearby shore
-5 people will hunt
-5 people will cut wood
-5 people will process wood at the sawmill
-3 people will operate the mill
-22 people will begun on the construction of a boat. (It's main use to be fishing, but hoping to have it hold several men- Likely an "X drive, the rest fish" kind of operation)
-17 people will gather iron pellets and/or clay for Thormod, as he requests. (iron by default)

(So for last season, I'd like to have two acres of wheat, 5 acres of oats for the rest? Also, were those 7 acres for all months combined..?)

((My understanding is that more farm tools doesn't really help much right now?))

Workers
7 - gather iron
4 - gather/process charcoal
3 - refine iron
3 - build crude shelter that will allow winter forging (dug partially into a side hill that can be lined with stone against the dirt and a roof and bit of wall built over and around it to block wind and keep rain and snow off. Not built right next to the barn or town hall, etc.)

If unrefined iron exceeds 150, the next month move 3 to charcoal, and 2 each to refine iron and build shelter.

Waiting on Theis and Quarg. (Theis, if you feel like you pigeon-holed yourself into a doctor role, you can make a new character to arrive by the returning boat and the doctor and turn into an NPC. (And I open that up to anyone who doesn't like their PC). Thinks is busy with RL, so I understand her not posting.

(Some of us were busy with IRMA's little sister, Betty the stomach virus...)

John contemplates the fact that he seems to be rather poor at hunting in the local woods, which sort of makes sense...you don't get to hunt much back home lest the King or local Lord have your head.

John decides in the first month to go explore the shores and rivers a bit more to see if he can find any new clam beds or other shell fish
The second month he will see if he needs to teach any of the clamers the right way to clam.
The third month he will spend on gathering supplies for upgrading one of the row boats to a sailboat (a mast, a leeboard, and a tiller)

Groff gruffly reassures the people by showing them that Ã”Ã‡Â£see, it all turned out well after all, just like I said it would.Ã”Ã‡Ã˜ The people responded with nods of head, ashamed by their reactions. They donÃ”Ã‡Ã–t especially like Groff mostly due to his hostile attitude, but they have learned that they can trust him. All Season:

Groff Orders: (90 commoners)
-20 people will harvest crops this season: Each month when done, move to help with construction.
Only 1 person is needed to help Freya with the Harvest, the other 19 are sent to help with the construction of the boat.

-5 people will fish
Fishing continues to be hurt from the overfishing earlier in the year, but you wouldnÃ”Ã‡Ã–t know based on amount of fish produced this season: 60 Fishy Food

-8 people will collect clams/similar foods from the nearby shore
These commoners were definitely not skilled, but they managed to collect 39 units of clam food, unfortunately the clam beds in the bay have been harvested fully and will need to rest a year before being able to be harvested from again. In the process of harvesting the clams, 180 pearls of various sizes were pried from the clam shells. 4 of the 180 were of impressive size and shape. Half of them are of decent size and quality, while the other half are small or of very low quality.
-5 people will hunt
With a better idea of the animals that could to be hunted in the wilds surrounding them, the hunters returned each month laden with meat and skins. However, during one of the hunting expeditions, the group ran across a mother bear and her cubs. The bear was eventually brought down, but not before it killed one of the men instantly with a clawed swipe across his face which peeled skin from bone like a knife in butter. The only thing that saved the other men, was the briefest amount of training that Groff had given them in the ways of a soldier to stand firm in the face of battle, this training helped them calm themselves down enough to kill the bear. The men brought the bear and its hide back to the camp in subdued victory. The men still didnÃ”Ã‡Ã–t have a good way to carry the meat and much of it spoiled between killing the animals and bringing the meat back to camp, especially as far from the village they roamed to find their kills.
Food: 50 Food
Hides: 1 Bear hide, 1 buffalo hide, 5 beaver pelts, 1 deer skin
1 commoner dead

-5 people will cut wood
43 timber is cut.

-5 people will process wood at the sawmill
50 lumber is produced from 13 timber

-3 people will operate the mill
50 units of wheat Flour is produced.

-22 people will begin on the construction of a boat. (It's main use to be fishing, but hoping to have it hold several men- Likely an "X drive, the rest fish" kind of operation)
With 41 men working nonstop over the course of the season, the village was able to construct a fine fishing craft fashioned in a style of the viking longboats of their ancestors. The craft was about 54 feet in length and 15 feet wide. The craft would be capable to sailing the rough waters along the coast with ease as well as hold upwards of 40-50 people.
Thormod Orders: (17 people assigned to him)
7 - gather iron
28 raw iron is found over the course of the season.

4 - gather/process charcoal
44 Charcoal is created

3 - refine iron
61 iron is refined using 14 charcoal.

3 - build crude shelter that will allow winter forging (dug partially into a side hill that can be lined with stone against the dirt and a roof and bit of wall built over and around it to block wind and keep rain and snow off. Not built right next to the barn or town hall, etc.)
The three men, commanded by Thormod to create a shelter, do a fantastic job at building a crude shelter, and it is quite crude. While the building is cut into the side of a hill, there are no true walls except for
the roof, which also counts as the exterior wall. The men arenÃ”Ã‡Ã–t overly impressed with themselves or their work, but they did what they could.

Thormod himself focuses on crafting usable items with the iron. The first month, he is only able to create 1 Carpentry Tools(+1). The second month he creates 5 lumbering Tools(+1). The final month he creates 2 Carpentry Tools(+1).
Freya focuses on farming all season. Harvesting 7 acres of Oats.
Freya and 1 other of the men are able to do all of the harvesting by themselves over the course of the season, allowing the other men to focus on constructing the fishing boat, much to GroffÃ”Ã‡Ã–s delight. They are able to harvest the fields and produce 120 units of oats.
John explores the shores and rivers, then teaches clammers a thing or two and then gather supplies to upgrade rowboat to sailboat.
John explores both north and south of the bay and is delighted to find several additional clam beds up and down the coast line, a total of 5 of them. He also explores the way of the river up into the swamp in which Thormod is using as his iron supply and is delighted to find that this river is a hotspot for animals of all kinds. Once one such day of exploring, he hears the distinct sound of the honey bee and is able to follow it to its hive. He marks the location in his head. He takes some time to show the clammers that now and then one can find pearls within the clams and how to open them to keep from damaging them. This helps greatly and many pearls are found and recovered. While his plan to gather supplies for the sailboat are well intentioned, he is pleased to see that by the end of the season, a longboat has been built and John takes it out on its maiden voyage and happily returns it in one piece again.
Ymer continues with plant study.
In the makings of the hermit life, Ymer spends an increasingly lot of time in the forest and fields surrounding the village studying the plants that grow therein. He finds several new species of plants which he makes notes of as well as collecting several samples to add to his personal supply. On one such foray, he finds a strange group of plants, which in and of themselves donÃ”Ã‡Ã–t seem strange, but they appear to have been planted. His interest piqued, he collects several of the leaves and upon using them on a few volunteers finds that they have healing qualities.
Bjorn makes a variety of tools: Baking, wool spinning, storage and hauling devices, smoking rack, tanner, parts for a sailboat.
Bjorn spends his time making various tools for the tasks which the villagers find themselves doing. He makes some baking utensils (1), Some spools for spinning wool (3) and 2 wooden crates for storage purposes.
Lured perhaps by the smell of their mother or just the hunger in their bellies, one morning in late fall, several shouts ring out and the camp is awakened to find 2 bear cubs have destroyed the berries that Ymer planted around the camp. While no buildings were damaged, Ymer can quickly tell that the berries will not grow back next year. By the time guns are brought out, the 2 cubs, scared by the yelling and activity had made for the forest once more and were gone.
At the end of the fall season, a large familiar boat sails into the bay.
19+1 new colonists disembark, but they donÃ”Ã‡Ã–t bring any extra food with them.
The last colonist to disembark had the look of someone who was skilled in the way of the woods and introduced himself to the Governor as Wim ter Avest, A skilled hunter and explorer who was happy and eager to join the fledgling colony in the new world.

The captain of the ship talks to Groff.
1. Anything of value that you would like to send back to the homeland can be sent back.
2. When the ship returns, they will be bringing the wives of the men who were brought here originally. (Not all of them have wives, but a lot of them do, Players can decide if they have wives/husbands or not)
3. Starting the next time the ship returns, the colony is expected to pay towards the 10,000 coin debt which was spent in their founding. Failure to do so would be unfavorable for the colonists and the end to self-governance.
Any requests for items from the homeland can be made, and the Captain will do his best to get them for you.

NOTE:
Starting next season, non-governor players can only command up to 10 people with the governors permission. This is to limit the amount of instruction bonus commoners can get, which decreases the limitation placed on the Governors skill-set.

Ymer will spend the season foraging and exploring around the area he found the planted plants for both new and exciting plantlife as well as natives that should embrace "hygge" 500 years before it got catchy.

Freya is angry that hunters are being forced to leave so much meat to spoil and go to waste. She suggests to the group that we build a hunting post vloser to the hunting grounds where the men can defend themselves from bears, and also cure any meat they hunt properly before trying to bring it back to the village (salt / smoke it).

We doing seem to be having the same kinds of starvation problems as before but honestly, I've lost track of the numbers and what season this is.

If it's Autumn, shell turn her focus to the livestock (unless we have winter crops?), making sure they're going to be well cared for and fed through the coming winter.

^Actually, you have about 1 years supply of food for all of you, including the new colonists which came over. And yes, it is fall.

Building a hunting post would help..but also remember that commoners perform tasks at a decreased rate than the rest of you. This is why I've created the ability to turn colonists into "skilled" colonists by spending a job specific ToT on them.

-20 people will go out fishing, using the boat. (7 responsible simply for sailing the boat)
-10 people are given to Freya to help take care of the animals as she sees fit
-5 people will stand guard (given wild animal concerns- They're allowed to kill to shoot any animal that might get too close for meat gains.)
-12 people will cut wood
-10 people will process wood at the sawmill
-3 people will operate the mill
-20 people will gather iron pellets and/or clay for Thormod, as he requests. (iron by default)
-29 people will begin the construction of smaller houses, starting to move people into them and out of the temporary shelter of the town hall. (Helping Bjorn)

Groff gives 50 of both poor and good quality pearls back to the homeland- And mutters something about how they're still setting up, so they'd be producing a bit more value in coming years, hopefully.

John wonders why Groff doesn't want to do more exploring. However he does know that he needs to help the fisherman fish so he takes 10 of those on the boat to teach how to sail the damn thing.

However before going he points out to Groff "We need to get some more firepower...You do realize the Spanish have claimed all of this land in the name of their King and might decide to attack us to keep other nations from trying to set up colonies on what they have claimed."

Wim (pronounced Vim) is going to spend the first part of the season exploring and familiarizing himself with local game and game-trails, and hunting areas. He'll do what hunting he can, as he goes, but he's setting himself up for future hunting seasons. If the bear cubs still managed to survive without their mother, and he runs across them, he may try to tame them- or failing that, hunt them.

He's cautious though, because this is a brand new land with different plants and animals than he's used to.

He'll spend the second part of the season inspecting the guns that the colony has, to see what sort of maintenance might need to be done. Seeing they've recently made some smoking and tanning gear, and assuming he still has time left over, he'll see what he can do to help get that all established.

((Each season has three parts rather than two, but yeah, that seems ok! I've largely lost track of the details of the rules though, so I would wait for further confirmation from badge or someone who's been keeping up ))